Machine for assorting round and cylindrical articles



Dec. 29, 1936. c. J. Du BRUL Er A; Y n 2,065,8 88

MACHINE FOR ASSORTING ROUND AND CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES c. J. DU BRUL ETALA J2,065,888.v MACHINE FOR ASSORTING ROUND AND CYLIUHCAL ARTICLES Dec.29, 1936.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 23, 1932 Dec.v2l9, 1936. C, J, DU BRUL ET LI 2,065,888

MACHINE FOR ASSORTINGROUND AND CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed'July 23, 19325 sheets-sheet s Dec. 29, 1936. c. J. Du BRUL ET AL 2,065,888

MACHINE Fon AssonTING ROUND AND CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed July 25, 19525 Sheets-Sheet 4 l gnuenfow Dec. 29, 1936. c. J. Du BRUL E1- Al.2,065,888

MACHINE FOR ASSORTING ROUND AND CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed July 25, 19325 Sheets-sheet 5 Patented Dec. 29, 1936 MACHINE AFOR ASSORTING ROUND ANDCYLINDRICAL VARTICLES 'Clarence J. Du Brul and William J. Luttmann,Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to The Miller, Du 'Brul & vPeters Mfg. Co.,Cincinnati, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application July 23, 1932, SerialfNo. 624,298

6 Claims. (Cl. 209-121) This invention relates to a machine forassorting round or cylindrical articles according to their diameter,shape, weight and denseness by a combination of mechanisms forseparating the articles into groups of certain uniform diameters andweights. 'Ihe combined diameter and weight classification gives afurther classification according to denseness, provided the articles areround, orcylindrical and of definite length.

The machine can be used for determining 'the smoking characteristics ofcigars which are dependent upon their denseness. By eliminating overweight and under weight cigars, as well as those whichare over or undersize, or bumpy, or tapered, -a product having uniformsmoking-characteristics is obtained. The process of classifying cigarsin this way is described in a copending application of C. J. Du Brul,Serial Number 624,299, led July 23, 1932.

Instead of classifying finished cigars, the bunches may be iclassiedbefore they are 'wrapped to insure'a uniform product going to the'wrapping table. This avoids a waste of wrapper tobacco which occurswhen defective rbunches are wrapped 4along with the standard ones. Theprocess ofclassifying bunches before they are wrapped is described inanother copending application of C. J. Du Brul, vSerial Number 558,129,filed August 19, 1931.

The above are only examples of processes which can 'be carried out bythis machine.

In the accompanying drawingswe have shown two illustrative forms `oftheinvention;

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic .plan view of one form oftheapparatus,

Fig.2 is a plan view'of another arrangement `of the weighing machine,showing in detail the left end which is obscured by thediametral'testing machine in Fig. 1 and which is the same in 'bothfigures,

, .Fig.y 3 is a side elevation of thediametral testing machine,rshowingalso aLportion of the left end of the weighing machine,

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic 4plan view of the gauging rollers of thediametral machine, Fig. 5 is a front elevation `of fthediametralmachine,

Fig. 6 is a section onthe'line '6,-6 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the weighing machine, and Y Fig. 8 is atransverse section of the weighing machine on the line'8--8 of Fig. '1.

The diametral selecting machine indicated generally by the character Ain the drawings comprisesa lp'air ofrspaced rolls I fand 2. The roll Iis xed upon a shaft 3 which is driven through beveled gears v4, 5,'shaft 6, and belt 1 from an electric motor '8. `'I'he roll I isdecreased in diameter at steps 9 and I0, the intermediate portions beingcylindrical.

The roll 2 is partly composed of stationary sections I I and I2 Xed byscrews VI3 to the frame of the machine. Within these stationarysectionsis rotatably mounted a shaft I4 driven by beveled gears I'5,. I6from'shaft. Rotating sections I8 and I9 of the roll -2 'are fixed uponshaft I4 so as to rotate therewith, for a purpose to be presentlydescribed. 'I'he roll 2 has steps 9 and- Ifll'corresponding to lthose ofthe roll I.

Above the roll 2 is a third roll-20 fixed upon a shaft 2|. This shaft isdrivenk by gears 22, 23, 24, the latter fixed upon shaft I4, in the samedirection as sections I8 and I9 of roll -2. Shaft 2I is rotatablyVmounted in bearingsf25, 2G pivotally supported on shaft -I4. Thesebearings `are secured together Aby a bridge piece 28 andare held inadjusted position -by braces '29, 30.

The ,rolls I and 2 Aare inclined downwardly toward theright.The-articles to be tested are dropped onto theupper left end of therolls and, if they'are cylindrical articles, they usually assume aposition parallel to' the rolls. If the articles to be tested-arevround, the inclination of the rolls would be very slight, instead ofthe considerable-inclination shown in Fig. 3. Articles which are of lessthan standard diameter drop through the -slot between the upper ends ofthe rolls yand are carried off by chute `3l into a box 60. Articles/ofgreater diameter are moved by the rotation'of roll I *and gravity towardthe right and-pass over the shoulders 9 to the next section of therolls; Here the articles of standard diameter drop through and areconveyed by a chute 32 tothe weighing machine. Oversized articlescontinue their movement along the rolls and pass over the shoulders I0,where they drop through` into chute 33 and are carried off. In the caseof substantiallycyl-indrical articles, those which are in part of smallenough diameter to drop `between therolls `at the upper end, but whichare ,prevented from'doing so by a tapered shape or a lump assume anupright position and are. carried down the rolls in that way' until theyreach section I8 of roll 2. At this point the Ycombined action of thethree rotating rolls I, I8, and 20 lifts the article clear of the rollsand throwsY it into trough 34. Articles assuming an upright positioninthe next section of the rolls, because. of 'tapered or lumpy shape,encounter similar treatment at the rotating section I9. The undera coverof plush, or other suitable -material ,toV

contact with the* increase the friction at its defective articles.

The articles of standard sizey and shape drop- Y ping into chute 32 areguided to the weighing machine indicated generallyby'the character B.

The articles are first led Vonto i a conveyor 48 which travels over astationary supporting trough 49. Portions of the trough 49 are cut outto make spaces for scale pans 4-lfan`d 50, -wlriichare also troughshaped and are, in effect, continual tions of the trough 49. Each scalepan 4i and 56 is carried on a rocking beam 65, Vthe opposite end ofwhich is controlled by a dash pot 66 to avoid oscillation of therockingbeam. The scale may be of any suitable construction, but the oneshown by way of example in the drawing is a Well known form of torsionbalance. .The two scales and the mechanisms controlled by them are thesame and a description of one-will suiiice for both. At the scale panend of the vrocking beam are mounted two contacts 61 cooperating withmercury-containingpockets 68. The mercury-containing pockets areinsulated from each other, but contacts 61 are electrically connected.The mercury pockets are connected in a circuit with a ksolenoid 42,which'circuit is completed when contacts 61 dip into the mercurypockets." Articles Which are oversize depress the scale pan 4lsuiciently to cause contacts 61 to dip into the mercury in pockets '38,Vthereby completing the electric circuit through a solenoid 42. Armature43 pivotally mounted at 69 -onlstationary arms 10 has a swingingmovement limited in outward direction by the abutment of theinwardlybent end 1l of the armature against the frame of the machine at12. In a lbracket 46 are slidably mounted rods 45 carrying at one end akicker 44 supported on a trough'56.

and at the other end a bar` 35 held in adjusted position by nuts 36.Armature 43 is extended upward to engage the bar 35. Between xed collars31 on rods 45 and one arm of each bracket 46 are coil springs 38 whichnormally hold the kicker toward the left (Fig. 8). When the electriccircuit is closed through solenoid 42 the armature 43 is drawn in andmoves the kicker 44 across conveyor 40. The article which is onthe scaleat the moment is thus pushed off conveyor 48 and slides down achute 41onto another conveyor 48 arranged a little below the conveyor 40 andsupported by a trough 55. Articles of standard or too-light weight donot depress the'scale pan 4l suiciently to close the electric circuitand so are carried on by conveyor 40. They karrive above the scale pan50 of the second` torsion balance, which is set so that its scale pan isdepressed to close the electric circuit of the second solenoid by theWeight ofv lighter articles, namely articles of standard weight. Thereis associated with the scale panr 50 another kicker 44 just like the onefirst described and operated intheV same manner. The standard Weightarticles are kicked off the conveyor 40 at this point and are guided bya chute 5I onto a vthird conveyor 52 The under weight articles arecarried'on by conveyor 40 and discharged over its end .The-standardandover motor 85. y '86, 81,1drive shaft 88` extending to the other end ofthe machine. At the opposite end of shaft 88 are beveled gears 8S and9), the latter xed upon shaft 82 to drivethe'same. At the discharge endof the machine a shaft 9i is mounted in bearings 92 on frame pieces 93.The shaft 9| carries a roller V94, preferably composed of rubber. The

' bearings 92 are adjustable so that the roller 94 can be pressed rmlyagainst the conveyor 48 on pulley 15. At the opposite end of the machinea shaft 95 bearing a roller 96 is similarly mounted in adjustablebearings 91. Thef'bearings 91 are adjusted to hold roller 95firmly-against conveyor 49 on pulley 18. such length that there issuiiicient slack in the upper span of it to avoid interferencer with thedepression of the scale pans, and this Vslack is kept in the upperk spanby rollers 94 and 96 Lpreventing conveyor 40 from slipping over'pulleysl15 and 18. In order to prevent this slack from forming a loop whichmight travel along and be squeezed past roller 94 a retarding device,shown in the drawings as a stationary 'nger 98,/is mounted on the frameof the machine in position to bear upon the top of conveyor 40 and holdit lightly against trough 49. This linger 4keeps most of the slack inconveyor 40 at the receivingv end and allows it to be paid out only asrequired by depression of the .scale pans. The speed of conveyor 40 is.positively controlled in accordance with the speeds of pulleys 15 and18. i

The slack in conveyors'48 and 52 `is taken up by any well known form ofbelt tightener, as indi-'- cated generally at I 80. `Instead of thearrangement of. the weighing machine shown in Fig.`1 we may use themodified form shown in Fig. 2.v In this case the articles are receivedat the left end of a conveyor H0 and are carried to scales III similarto those described above, but set to discharge both standard and overweight articles from conveyor H0 down chute H2 to conveyor H3. Thestandard and over weight articles are carried by lconveyor H3 to scalesH4 set to discharge over weight articles down chuteIl5fto.conveyor'.||6.. Theunder weight articles are Vdelivered byconveyor H 0, the standard articles by conveyor H3, `and the over weightarticlesby conveyor H5.

The weight selecting machines described above are accurate and rapid,being capable of selecting such light articles as cigars and cigarbunches, varying only slightly Ain Weight, `at a; highirate of speed. jY

Having described our invention,

1. In a machine for assorting articles'according to weight, an endlessconveyor belt, imeans for frictionally drivingr said belt, a scalearranged with its pan below and incontact'with said'co'n'- veyor belt,means for keeping aloop of slackI in said conveyor belt so that itrestsl freely upon said scale pan, andselecting means controlled bysaidscale. i

, 2. In a machine for assorting articles accord- The conveyor-40is of lf mik ing to weight, two pulleys, an ,endless conveyor 75 belt trainedover said pulleys, a scale arranged With its pan beneath and in contactwith one span of said conveyor belt, means for positively driving bothof said pulleys at the same peripheral speed, and means pressing saidconveyor radially against each of said pulleys, said conveyor beingarranged with slack in the span contacting with said scale.

3. In a machine for assorting articles according to Weight, two pulleys,an endless conveyor belt trained over said pulleys, a scale arrangedwith its pan beneath and in contact with one span of said conveyor belt,means for positively driving both said pulleys at the same peripheralspeed, and rollers associated with each of said pulleys to press saidconveyor belt radially against each pulley.

4. In a machine for asserting articles according to Weight, two pulleys,an endless conveyor belt trained over said pulleys, a scale arrangedwith its pan beneath and in contact with one span of said conveyor belt,means for positively driving both of said pulleys at the same peripheralspeed, and rollers having high frictional properties associated witheach of said pulleys to press said conveyor belt radially against eachpulley.

5. In a machine for assorting articles according to Weight, two pulleys,an endless conveyor belt trained over said pulleys, a scale arrangedwith its pan beneath and in contact with the upper span of said conveyorbelt, means for driving said pulleys at a definite speed, means pressingsaid conveyor against both of said pulleys, said conveyor being arrangedwith slack in its upper span, and means engaging the upper span of saidconveyor belt adjacent the receiving end thereof, to hold back a loop ofslack in said upper span.

6. In a machine for classifying articles by weight, a scale having aweighing pan, an endless conveyor belt traveling over said pan andresting thereon, driving means for said conveyor belt comprising apositively driven pulley and a pressure wheel pressing said conveyorbelt radially against said pulley, and means cooperating with saidpressure Wheel to maintain a loop of slack in said conveyor belt, sothat it rests freely upon said Weighing pan.

CLARENCE J. DU BRUL. WILLIAM J. LU'I'I'MANN.

